Holy Spirit’s Bailey has clear future

The day after B.J. Bailey’s high school career ended, his basketball future suddenly took an uncertain turn.

The Holy Spirit senior saw his career conclude with a 64-36 loss to Christian Brothers Academy in the South Jersey Non-Public A championship game on March 10.

The next day, Bailey got the news that Boston University, where he accepted a basketball scholarship and signed in November, had fired coach Dennis Wolff.

Talk about a double whammy.

Bailey, a member of The Inquirer’s all-South Jersey first team who averaged 17.5 points, didn’t feel secure at that point.

Nobody knew if the new coaching staff would be as high on Bailey as the old one.

“I was a little worried,” Bailey said. “I didn’t know what to think.”

This is where a high school coach really makes an impact on a youngster’s life.

Coach Jamie Gillespie, who guided the Spartans to a 26-3 record, is more than somebody who draws up X’s and O’s. Gillespie is somebody who works hard, helping his players in recruiting, so after hearing the news, Bailey listened to his instincts.

“I called Coach,” he said.

It was a good move.

“At that point, we explored all the options,” Gillespie said.

Gillespie made some phone calls and discovered that Boston University was going to retain assistant coach Orlando Vandross, who did most of the legwork in recruiting Bailey.

“That made me feel good,” Bailey said. “I told him, as long as he was staying, then I was staying.”… Read Entire Article Here